New Faces, New Places: A passion for great beer in a great atmosphere

The simple concept of combining community, collaboration, creativity and really great beer drove Madeline Conn back to her hometown of Saskatoon to start her own business.

“All through university I tried to travel as much as I could,” she says. “When I was living in Dallas, I saw the craft beer industry down there and always thought it would be great up here.”

As Conn began making her business plan, she knew the craft beer scene in the city was already strong, and she wanted to make sure her tap room would appeal to everyone, not just the aficionados.

“It’s just a different atmosphere and a different take on things,” she says. “I think traditionally breweries are very industrial and rustic, which is great, but I think our brewery is very clean line, modern — and you don’t have to be a craft beer enthusiast to come here and play around and experiment with different flavours of beer.”

Some of High Key Brewery’s best selling beers are the classics, like its White IPA, but brewer Daniel Rommens isn’t afraid to shake it up and experiment with new and unique flavours. In fact, it’s his favourite part of the job.

Conn mentions one of the top sellers is the Pink IPA, one of Rommens’ twists on the classic thanks to the addition of rose hips and hibiscus.

“Also our Irish Red Ale is a lot of fun because I add a bit of rum and wood during the process, which not a lot of people do,” he says. “But that’s part of the fun, being the brewer and having creative control. I’m always thinking and reading about things; even at night I’ll lose sleep thinking about the next fun and exciting thing.”

Next on his list of creations is a London Fog porter that integrates Earl Grey and vanilla flavours.

Customers can buy any of the beers in kegs, growlers, and of course pints straight from the tap room. Conn said they are currently in talks with Sobey’s and Co-op in hopes of being added to their growler fill stations.

Mountain snowmobiling passion inspires clothing company

Cole Flath always knew he would someday have his own business. His passion for mountain snowmobiling — and the low startup costs associated with T-shirt companies — inspired him and his cousin Dallas Androsoff to start their own brand, Alpyne Apparel.

“We started researching T-shirt companies in the snowmobile and mountain industry and nothing was really popping up,” Flath says. “We wanted to come up with a brand that was original designs, extremely high quality clothing and we wanted it to be affordable.”

The mountain lifestyle brand, based out of Martensville, has already been in business for about three years but has recently made huge waves across Canada thanks to a partnership with a major distributor that has put their clothing on the shelves of 175 stores throughout Western Canada — including Saskatoon’s Recreation Supply Co., Outter Limits and Proline Motorsports, as well as Clothing Obsession in Warman.

Flath and Androsoff, who does all the original designs as the company’s creative director, were so focused on creating high quality clothing at a low price they decided to have their fabrics specially engineered for lasting quality and comfort — and it seems to be working.

“We go to a lot of trade shows and people have come back from the year before wearing our products and buying two to three times as much because it’s still just as soft, it hasn’t shrunk and they’ve worn it all year round,” Flath says.

Alpyne Apparel’s clothing has also caught the eye of seven pro athletes looking for sponsorship — including X Games gold medallist snowmobiler Brett Turcotte — which Flath says has been a major contributor to their success so far.

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh really, you are a mountain brand from Saskatoon, like how does that make sense?’ ” he laughs. “But I always tell them if you have a passion for something or a passion for the mountains, where you live doesn’t matter.”

Erin Petrow is a reporter at The StarPhoenix. If you have started, expanded or moved a small business in Saskatoon within the last few months, contact her at epetrow@postmedia.com Home-based and temporary businesses, as well as those without physical locations, will not be considered for publication. Follow Erin on Twitter @petr0w

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